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Serial casting for the management of ankle contracture in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Allan M Glanzman1, Jean M Flickinger, Kripa H Dholakia
1Department of Physical Therapy, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. glanzmana@email.chop.edu
Purpose:
To evaluate the effect of serial casting in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Methods:
Chart review of 9 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, mean age 8.9 (±2.1) years.
Results:
Initial dorsiflexion -6.2° and -5.2° right and left, respectively. The mean improvement was 12° and 11.6° on the right and left (knee extended) and 7.7° and 8.7° on the right and left (knee flexed) or 2.7° and 3.9° per cast, respectively. Times to run 10 m, climb 4 steps, and get off the floor were unchanged. Correlations between range-of-motion change/cast and age were r = -0.86 right and r = -0.84 left. Three patients had delayed onset foot pain; one child had redness with symptom resolution in all cases.
Conclusions:
Improvement in range of motion with the application of serial casting was found with no loss of function or speed despite the period of immobilization.
